New Biocidal Products Regulations

Peter Kugel LL.M, Attorney at Law, Kugel Legal - European Chemical Law Attorneys (Belgium) opened, in the spirit of this session, by describing the BPR as a(nother) cow that could be milked by lawyers.  The new BPR, published in June, would come into effect in September next year.  The new points to note were:

•          Treated articles with a primarily biocidal function will be considered as biocides if the biocide is intended to control harmful organisms outside the article.
•          If the biocide is purely internal and intended to protect the article alone then it does not come under the regulations.
•        If products are borderline i.e. fall within the scope of the regulations but are intended for use for purposes not covered by the regulations then the regulations should apply.
•          For dual use biocides, e.g. insect repellent suncreams, the law is unclear but such products may have to comply with the regulations.

Wet wipes for medical and personal care applications are likely to be outside the scope of the regulations but wet-wipes for disinfecting surfaces would be within.  Diapers or femcare products treated for odour-control purposes could be inside the scope and Mr Kugel recommended a case-by-case consideration.  If a claim is made on the pack about biocidal activity the labelling obligations are triggered, but these too are currently unclear!

In short there are more questions than answers so an EDANA Guidance Booklet is being prepared to provide illumination in these dark times.